Because of its fertile soil, abundant water and temperate climate, Jiangsu Province is known as China’s “Land of Fish and Rice.” In Yangzhou, the ancient Southern capital, the riches of Jiangsu are expressed in the design, construction and careful maintenance of magnificent urban gardens built by rich merchants centuries ago. Yangzhou gardens are designed to inspire, painting, poetry and calligraphy as well as friendly conversation and reflective thought…
By David DeVoss The PyeongChang Olympics may be over, but that no reason to stop thinking about Korea. Indeed, now’s a great time to start planning ahead for warmer months. By all means head back to PyeongChang, which is beautiful with or without snow, but check out Seoul before you do. Every Asian capital has…
LA’s New Landlords Is Los Angeles the Next Shanghai? By David DeVoss There are more than 225,000 Koreans living in and around Los Angeles and this week they have a new symbol of accomplishment, a glass-sheathed hotel, office and retail tower topped by an enormous, sail-shaped LED screen that nightly beams the Korean Airlines logo…
Secrets of the Solomon Islands By Julie L. Kessler For World War II history buffs, the far away and often forgotten Solomon Islands are awe-inspiring. They are the place where U.S. marines fought and died on Guadalcanal. It is where young Navy Lieutenant John F. Kennedy saved his crew after their PT boat was cut…
Trans Pacific Partnership Under Fire From Both Right & Left in America by David DeVoss Foreign Ministers spend most of their time persuading other countries to do their bidding. But last month U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Los Angeles to convince a decidedly American audience to support the Trans Pacific Partnership, the…
Dawn of the Aerotropolis By David DeVoss By David DeVoss Just outside Korea’s Incheon airport there are two roads leading to downtown. One heads east to the Korean capital of Seoul more than an hour’s drive away. The other angles south over a short causeway to New Songdo, a decade-old airport city that is known…